[BLOG] Some Friday links

Andrew Barton remarks on the fact that not only are the dominant newspapers of British Columbia part of a commercial monopoly, they’re all going up behind paywalls, too.

Centauri Dreams’ Paul Gilster notes that galaxies like our Milky Way, which has two relatively large satellite galaxies (the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds), are actually quite rare in the universe.

In his ongoing False Steps blog, describes a proposed American spacecraft designed in 1946 that could have sent an astronaut into space a decade ahead of time.

Geocurrents describes the peculiar situation of the booming Somalian city of Galkayo, divided between two state-like entities.

GNXP’s Razib Khan is very critical of the recently-voiced argument that Indo-European languages evolved in Anatolia, not the Pontic steppes.

Marginal Revolution takes note of Mexico’s heavy investment in the United States, one data point illustrating that Mexico is actually something of a global economic power.

Savage Minds links to an anthropologist’s posting describing how, given the terrible economic prospects for students in the field, the only future for anthropology truly is outside of academia. More later.

Torontoist takes note of the commemoration of the one-year anniversary of Jack Layton’s death at Toronto City Hall.

Towleroad’s Andrew Belonsky points out that the ongoing trend in the United States towards acceptance of same-sex marriage is likely to influence eventual Supreme Court decisions.

At The Way the Future Blogs, Frederik Pohl is right to note that one major element behind the decline of Mexican emigration to the United States is the sharp fall in the Mexican fertility rate. This is not the only factor at play, however, as he implies.